The Junior Symphony Guild has changed its name to Inside the Orchestra, something that membership vice president Shanna Powell says better describes the organization and the purpose it serves.

The vote to approve the switch was unanimous.

For 54 years, Powell states, “The name Junior Symphony Guild was appropriate (because) we were lending support to the Denver Symphony Orchestra and its successor, the Colorado Symphony, with which we are no longer affiliated.

“We also understand that the ‘junior’ in our name leads people to believe we are a ‘young orchestra.’ This is not the case, either.

“We hire professional musicians to bring orchestral music to children. We have created a unique experience where the kids literally sit inside the orchestra and are surrounded by musicians.”

Music director Tom Jensen adds: “For 27 of our 54 years, the members have been explaining that we are not a youth orchestra with kids performing, but an adult union orchestra that educates and entertains children of all ages. So why not underscore our mission in our name?”

For the third year, opera will be part of the programming as baritones Chad Reagan and Adam Ewing from the Central City Opera take part in performances scheduled for Oct. 15, 17 and 18.

The music, Jensen says, will range from that which is “light as a feather” to that he describes as “heavy as cement.” Besides listening, the children and their parents will be “creatively engaged in theater-of-the-mind activities” while the orchestra plays pieces like Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet.”

The audience also will be introduced to Ravel’s “Bolero,” which, according to Jensen, is “the most famous rhythm and melody ever written. The only way to get it out of your head is to sing ‘The Itsy, Bitsy Spider.’ ”

A $7.50 donation is suggested for the programs to be presented at 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. at the Wildlife Experience Museum in Parker and at Temple Sinai and Temple Emanuel in Denver.

The Junior Symphony Guild was established in 1958 and for 30-plus years hosted a designer showhouse to raise the money needed to support the music education programs it sponsored throughout the metro area.

Its Designer Showhouse was a Denver favorite, an occasion for the city’s interior design community to showcase its many talents in an elegant home that, more often than not, had fallen into disrepair.

The designers had only a few weeks to work their magic and transform each venue into the showplace it once was, and their hard work was rewarded with visitor accolades and new clients.